Sweet Christmas Tidings
by Mystery Grin
Summary: A collection of drabbles telling the enjoyment of the season with Naruto and friends! Rating M for Language and Sexual Situations.
1. Christmas in Snowspring

**Christmas in Snowspring**

**Kakashi/Sakura**

Synapses: _After a long mission, Sakura wants nothing more than to just go back home and enjoy whats left of her December with her family._

* * *

"Kakashi, I've had just about enough of this shit.." A cold, wet, miserable kunoichi grumbled. In the snow. Two days after Christmas. Another week of walking outside her own damn country. While the land of Mist was beautiful covered in snow, it was far more fun to watch it fall than to be the poor bastard wading through it; Sakura could confirm this. Kakashi didn't seem to give many fucks as he continued forward, silent as the grave. She couldn't tell if he was as grouchy as she was, or if he was just focusing on getting them closer to an inn that had an open room! Wiser people had already begun to fill available hotels left and right. Even local friends had homes full of family and friends, and unless they wanted to sleep on the porch, there was no available room.

"You did this to us. All for a little extra spending money." Sakura chattered, teeth clicking as she tried to tighten her scarf around her neck and add more warmth by adding another round. The winter-wear she'd brought along was rapidly getting colder, even if it was waterproofed. Melting snowflakes conspired to get in her boots, slide cold drops of water down her neck, and freeze her toes until there were no toes left to paint. "Seriously. You did this to us. I can't begin to tell you how much I'm disliking you Kakashi. I couldn't hate you, but I seriously don't like you right now."

Again, her complaints fell on deaf ears as Kakashi continued to trudge through the snow. Sakura frowned at the back of his head and fought the urge to pout. Their mission was relatively easy - low level assassination of the leader of a drug lord at the outskirts of Mist. Mist had connections inside of the drug ring that would've been jeopardized if they would've done he mission themselves, so they sent for outside help which was met with enthusiasm, at first. The snow came, completely thrashing the return plans Sakura had had to enjoy her family and her fiancé together for their first Christmas. The fiancé in question was refusing to make any eye contact, or even sigh in contempt for her complaints. He just kept moving forward through cold, dry snow. Sakura kept moving forward with a sigh of irritation. "Again. Just so you know. You did this. I'll remind you again in half an hour."

* * *

Four hours passed, in fact, before Sakura felt the need to remind Kakashi that he was the bastard that put them in this situation; however as it stood, Sakura could barely keep herself warm and moving forward let alone take more of her warm energy to chew him out for something she was sure he already knew. A few times, she noticed him stumble through the snow and was alarmed – he was probably as tired as she was. But for some reason, he kept moving, kept going, and it wasn't until they came up on a sign that outrage began to pour through her. One read let her know it said, "Snowspring Village One Mile Ahead."

Sakura was positively shaking at her fiancé, not just from the cold, and the anger warmed her better than her polarized winter gear. She grabbed his pack's handle, and in a terrifying and unexpected show of strength and balance, she slung him over her head, behind her, and face down into the snowdrift they had just walked through.

"Do you even know where the FUCK we are going?!" She raged, trying to look angry with a stuffy red nose and frosty hair. "Snowspring Village goes WEST of our original target that is in the EAST! That target I was talking about is HOME!"

Kakashi didn't move for a long moment before putting one hand at a time into the snow, pushing up off the ground and sliding his feet from him. His mask kept his features placed for him, and his remaining grey eye was looking at her with a blank expression, albeit a tired one.

"Sakura."

"WHAT?!"

"Do you trust me?"

She scowled at him and stomped towards the village three or four steps not sure she should beat the shit out of him or feel pity just that he had to ask the question. Letting out a bark of frustration, she turned back to the ninja who was still squatting in the snow, looking up at her for her answer.

"Of course I trust you, Kakashi. But I'm cold, I'm tired, I haven't eaten since yesterday, and we've been walking for days. I'd like an inn, a warm bed, and a hot shower."

Kakashi nodded and rose, adjusting the straps on his pack as he continued forward.

"Walk with me one more mile, love. I promise you'll feel better in a mile."

Sakura frowned. Doubt filled her, and her sarcastic witty side was saying the only way she'd feel better after walking another mile to some Podunk little town in the middle of nowhere is after she shoved her water proof boot up his ass. Instead she trudged on grumbling to herself at his behest and didn't say another word to him for the rest of the mile.

* * *

Night was falling quickly. The sky was turning a vivid and dark blue as snow began to fall black around them in the fading light. The boot up someone's ass was a long ago faded fantasy as Sakura's eyes welled with tears, her bones ached and feet tired from days of walking. She shook violently, water proof gear soaked as the kept inching forward towards Snowspring. Every step made her want to cry. She missed her family sitting around a warm hot pot filled with beef and vegetables, the taste of sugared peach jams on warm muffins, and Grandma's special chocolates made only for the cold time of year to drop in hot milk and swirl around. Sakura just wanted to go home, and in all of her longings and distraction, she bumped into Kakashi who'd stopped in the middle of the path. While she'd been thinking about home, light had filtered through the window of the first buildings of a broad town casting warm shadows over untouched snow.

"Kakashi..?" She questioned, standing on tip-toe to see over his shoulder. He began to remove his pack and placed it on the ground, kneeling so she could get a full view of what stood before him. Two younger men and an older woman were standing in the middle of the road. The older woman had her black hair up in a stylish bun, warmly swathed in a big purple kimono with orange goldfish swimming along the hems and fur coat, her hand outstretched and waiting for something. The boys were both in simple pants and tunics and seemed to be patiently waiting on word from the old woman. Kakashi continued to dig until he came out with a tidy, thick package and handed it to the old woman.

"It should all be there, Manami." He said quietly. The woman held up her hand, opened the thick envelope and pulled out a stack of bill that made Sakura shrink. What was he doing? Why where they there?! The woman counted for a few moments then looked up with a brighter smile than she had before and motioned for the two boys to take their packs. Kakashi relinquished his gratefully as did Sakura, who couldn't drown out the dozens of questions that were burning in her mind. So he _knew_ they were coming here. That begged all sorts of other unanswered queries. As he moved forward, Sakura's mouth opened and closed trying to choose the best question brewing but couldn't get it at as Kakashi followed the woman Manami into the village through two heavy looking doors. Once inside, Sakura's eyes widened in awe. Bare aspen trees were woven with beautiful white lights through their empty branches and around the base of their trunks.

They lined the road into Snowspring Village, which the buildings themselves seemed to glow. White lights decorated the buildings as well, carefully and beautifully displaying every warm window, and every beam of the buildings. Manami and the two escorts walked down the middle of this road for a few minutes before turning at an in on the left side of the street. Steam poured off the roof of it's third story, and in its windows Sakura could see decorated trees and warm fireplaces lit for the building. The two boys and Manami stood outside a pair of sliding doors that opened for them and welcomed them into the first room where she and Kakashi were seated in chairs and had their boots and socks carefully removed by a pair of young women with strong hands and short black hair that had been pinned into a bun. Then another pair of paper doors opened for them to another small room where they were again seated and the two girls that had removed their shoes came forward with warmed oil on their hands. The moment Sakura's girl touched her frigid feet with the warm oil, Sakura could feel warm tears pouring down her cheeks.

All her bitching and whining and complaining…

Kakashi's cold hand found hers and he lifted it up to his lips and put a gentle kiss on her knuckles. Shame made her cheeks burn and she couldn't look at him as the girls massaged the feeling back into their feet with firm gentle strokes.

"I'm sorry we couldn't make it home in time to spend Christmas with your parents, Sakura." His voice was quiet and gentle. "I knew it as soon as I accepted the mission and the look on your face when I told you we were leaving. But I promise you; when we get back, your parents still have all the things that you had when you were a kid ready for you. I just wanted to spend this little bit with you before we got back to the everyday crap…"

Sakura's heart fluttered like a caged bird, her face was a soggy mess, and the tenderness that tapped away at her made her look up into his eye with her own watery green eyes and smile despite the disaster she felt like. She'd forgotten the two girls were even there, and she couldn't speak for a long moment. Kakashi, having pulled his mask down some time ago, used his other free hand to tilt her chin towards him to give him a quiet, love filled kiss, and then another, and another until he worked his way from her mouth to her cheek and placed one last sweet kiss on her forehead.

"We're going to stay here for a few days until the snow lets up and then head home. Is that alright?" He asked. Sakura was completely beyond words at this point. She simply nodded her head quickly as she could as one of the girls slipped tabi on her and a pair of warm slippers before sitting back. Kakashi got up and helped Sakura up before sweeping her into his arms with a saucy grin. Sakura laughed and cried at the same time both embarrassed and thrilled with him.

"Yes, I am the bastard that got us into this, but I'd hoped you wouldn't mind a detour for a change. This might be the only time we get to spend this time of year alone." He teased as more shoji opened. A staff of worker bowed to greet them with smiling faces and Manami bowed low before them.

"Let me show you to your rooms!" She said with a large accommodating smile.

Despite all her misgivings in the beginning, Sakura was sure this would be the best Christmas she would ever spend anywhere.


	2. Some Call it War

**Some Call it War**

Medley of Naruto Characters

Synapses: _Naruto is enjoying the dej`a vu that was his childhood when a terrible and wonderful idea come upon him as he reclaims his notorious prankster title._

* * *

The chilly air had Naruto's hands in his pockets (where they belonged in most people's opinion) warming as he took a brisk stroll around Konoha's gate. For the first time in three years it had finally snowed – he'd be damned if he didn't at least walk through the freshly fallen snow! He could hardly keep himself from kicking the delightful powder in child like glee as he made his way closer and closer to the wide open gates of his city. For the most part, it'd been a rough year. Losing friends left and right to their trade took its toll, and for a few months Naruto had wondered if he'd ever get the childish part of his soul back. Yet here it was! Freshly fallen from the sky, white and blemish free. As he rounded the gates, a snickering part of him bade him to kneel down into the snow and dig up one heaping handful of the dry white powder. He fashioned it lovingly into a perfect, round ball before looking around for a victim when one of the tower guards caught his eye.

His whiskered cheek tilted as an grin filled with childish mirth and evil intent flooded over him and with a moment to aim, he fired the snowball of at breakneck speed towards one of the guards before bolting into the trees. Landing on a branch he stood silent for seconds when a satisfying _smack_ resounded as well as an indignant "HEY!". He held back a snicker as he balled another batch of snow and looked for the guard's mate, found him swiftly, and launched it right at his face. His eyes lit up as his missile found its mark. The ball of powder exploded on the other guard's face leaving him sputtering and red faced.

"Knock it off!"

It took every bit of restraint Naruto had not to start laughing as he changed positions and bolted across the road to the other side to launch another attack on the other side of the gate…

* * *

Genma happened to be wooing a certain blonde haired kunoichi whose name he couldn't remember for the life of him on guard duty. He had her trapped on the side of the wall and giggling in the cage of his arms with a naughty look on her face that didn't register to his brain, but definitely meant special things to the ever hardening carrot in his pants. He opened his mouth to tell said kunoichi that he knew where he'd be sticking his candy cane this year for Christmas when the unthinkable happened. It only came into his peripheral vision as a tiny white dot that grew exponentially until it exploded, cold and wet, on the side of his face.

"Goddammit!" he swore loud and painfully, throwing himself back from the blonde guard who dissolved into hysterical laughter.

"Who the FUCK THREW THAT?!" He howled. His head swung around the gate, looking on both sides and over to the other side. Both guards were wiping snow off their faces. Genma frowned at this. If it wasn't the two guards over there, it was someone on either side of the fence.

"Kakashi if that's you, you're dead!" He shouted. Another snowball pelted the back of his head painfully and another string of swearing erupted from his mouth.  
"Genenji! Tosama! You see who's throwing those damn things?!" He shouted across the way.

"No idea! But the fucker isn't quitting any time soon!" Tosama answered, and just as he finished saying something another snowball hit him full force in the side of the head. Genma didn't catch the trajectory fast enough to figure out where it was coming from, but had only moments before another snowball came whistling through the air at him from behind the gate inside of the city. He ran for the side of the wall and was wielding a snowball to fire back when another one hit the back of his head from the other side of the gate.

"WHAT IS GOING ON?!" He roared.

* * *

Naruto had conjured up three other clones to do his bidding and was switching positions as not to be caught onto when his face planted square in something soft, cozy, and very warm. He nestled for a moment in the warmth and pleasant clean smell when he hauled his face out of the warmth and met a very red Hinata who was blinking in surprise at him.

"N-Naruto! What are you doing?!" She whispered, crouched beside him. He gave her a wink and a quick kiss on the cheek before answering her.

"I'm messing with the guards at the gate. Wanna help?"

Hinata, though flushed from his attention, nodded eagerly and created one other clone to keep the shenanigans going.

They split off and came up with a half-baked battle plan that involved consistent movement of the clones, condensed attacks, and an ultimate goal of covering the wall with snow. Hinata even suggested getting more snow for more ammunition before they started getting lower, and she happened to have a handy jutsu that had it snowing in minutes.

* * *

Genma, Tosama, Genenji and Asaka as Genma had come to find out the delicious blonde kunoichi's name was were having no luck apprehending the snowball fiend, but had figured out that it wasn't just one culprit. There were a multitude of them, and because of its sneaky nature, they couldn't figure out just who they were firing at yet. Two broken windows, a black eyed civilian, and lots of missed snowballs later they were at their limit. There was only duck and cover as their option at this point as nobody could leave their post without an actual threat of a reason, and they were out of snow to throw from their positions even though snow had started to fall again. All four of them were swearing under their breath when a particularly loud mouthed shinobi made their appearance.

"Asaka! I've come to ask again for a dinner and drinks with my fair haired maiden!" Gai announced, balanced precariously on the edge of the gate before the blonde who was huddled down below the snowballs range. Not two seconds had gone by and a snowball hit Gai square in the nads. The Blue Beast of Konoha gave a monster-like grunt and groaned as he fell into the walkway of the gate. Genma winced at the poor devil's plight but was having trouble not laughing. Gai seemed to have trouble breathing for a few minutes as more snowballs rained downwards, but did manage to get his bearings enough to wheeze out, "Whooooo…."

Genma shouted as he caught a snowball and fired it back in the direction it came from.

"We have no idea – they've been at it for fifteen minutes and counting. We can't go anywhere to figure out who it is!" Genma growled as he pulled Gai out of the line of fire. Gai's eyes narrowed and his face puckered in distaste.

"Once I manage to get up – I'll head out on this SUPER SECRET MISSION and battle the culprit!" He vowed. Genma rolled his eyes while Gai was caught up in his moment of passion, but was also relieved to have an off-duty shinobi at their beck and call.

* * *

It was now up from Naruto and Hinata to Naruto, Hinata, Kakashi, Kiba, Konahamaru and his girlfriend, Shikamaru and Ino. Kakashi was providing more ammo than they could ever hope for, and had even suggested a snowball that melted with chakra upon impact to further the misery of their victims. They had their clones out making mischief when a sudden loud and obnoxious presence made himself known.

"I'm here to challenge you snowball throwers to a battle of honor! Please come out so we may fight fair and square!" Called Gai Sensei through the trees. "If you refuse to come to my challenge, I will come after you and your honor will be forfeit!"

Naruto shuddered - the last time he said anything of the sort, it usually left them in a green suit training for days on end with the terrible Gai out of punishment from Tsunade. Truthfully though, she did it for entertainment value, and most of the village knew that going on a regime with Gai was usually meant to cause humiliation. Everyone but Gai seemed to know this. In any case, if Gai was involved to any degree of shenanigans, everyone knew that the stakes went higher right then and there. If anyone was caught as part of this snowball war, prisoners would be called before Tsunade and forced to train with the Green Monster. Naruto exchanged a glance with Kakashi, who met his gaze with a worried one of his own.

"What Kakashi - scared of a little challenge between you and Gai?" Naruto teased. Kakashi's eye narrowed on him and in one smooth move he planted his gloved hand on Naruto's face and pushed the whiskered ninja off the branch. Naruto hit every branch on the way down, screaming and yelling at Kakashi as he went and landed with a dull thud on the ground below, sinking into the snow. Gai loosed a laugh of triumph as the blonde shinobi pulled himself out of the snow and sat back with a sheepish grin.  
"I'm sure Tsunade won't appreciate you distracting her Gate Detail Naruto-san!" Gai bellowed, arms akimbo.

"Just taking a break, Gai-Sensei! Figured I'd just mess with the gate a bit!" Naruto answered with his trademark, toothy smile.

"Fun in the snow is wonderful for building up the spirit of your youth Naruto, but it should be used on friends and not here!" Gai said, hand fisted before him with passion. "Perhaps you should start a snowball fight with Lee and I rather than these men!"

Naruto's smile now flattened to a terrible smirk and for one moment of Gai's burning passion, Naruto felt a piece of himself click back into place. Memories of his kooky friends, his mischievous outings, and the greatest times of his childhood swarmed back and warmed him from head to toe. All was at peace within him.

"NOW!" He yelled at the top of his lungs, scrambling to get away. All of the snow and effort of the combined shinobi working came to this pinnacle attack - at his command, hundreds of pounds of snow avalanched from the trees over Gai, completely covering the man in green with white. More snow sprayed over the guard's towers at the gate, completely covering the walkways and filling them up with icey snow. During each seperate attack to keep their enemies distracted, Kakashi had taught the originals the kinder version of the Snow Jet Jutsu. They'd seperated into groups and were now drowning their targets in snow. The final call's attack lasted only a moment, and it didn't take long for all their targets to be covered from the neck down in snow. Genma was spitting and cursing, Tosama and Genenji were doing about the same, and poor Asaka was still trying to unbury herself from where she'd been huddling for warmth. As Genma's head popped through the blanked of snow, Kakashi landed gracefully on the pile beside him.

"I knew it was you you bastard! You owe me the bar tonight! And you're setting me up! Dammit!" Genma howled even as Kakashi was molding some snow in his hands. Kakashi smashed it over Genma's head before leaping away, and Naruto swiftly followed as he laughed the rest of the way into the village.

"Best war EVER!"


	3. Black Friday

**Black Friday**

**Characters: Kiba & Tenten**

**M For sMut!**

Synapses: _What things dwell in the mind of men and women around the holiday season and how very different they can be!_

* * *

Kiba was waking slow and groggily in a warm bed next to a warm body. Blessedly, his bed didn't smell like Akamaru. For as much as he loved his K-9 companion, both of them needed their lady time. The smell of jasmine and vanilla was soo much better than wet dog in the morning, and the soft breathing next to his ear was minty and clean. He huffed; she'd gotten up to brush her teeth while he was asleep this morning and gone back to bed. Tenten hated the having morning breath when she slept over, and now had made it a habit to wake up a four or five in the morning to brush her teeth before going back to bed. Kiba carefully rolled onto his side to survey her sleeping form. She was wearing the bright red Christmas panties she'd teased him with the week before, and had her chest modestly covered with a downy sheet as she slept facing him. Her brown hair was a mess on the pillow, and her breathing was slow and even.

Even sleeping she was delicious to look at. The scents she produced when she were practically magical – when she was aroused and teasing him, she had a sweet scent that was just a little bit spiced. When she was confused, the jasmine she wore tended to get stronger. And when she was calm, like while she was sleeping peacefully beside him in bed, she smelled of so much vanilla. She was his oh so lickable treat in the morning, noon and night, and he was pretty sure with the sounds she made when she was with him, she enjoyed him licking her.

The brunette sniffled and her eyes fluttered, brows creasing before she patted for more covers and pulled more of the down on her, curling up to keep warm. Kiba stole out of bed to creep to the other side behind her and carefully slid in behind her. He could hear her heart rate begin to pick up and she came into wakefulness and knew as soon as his hot skin brushed her cooled back he was caught. Pulling Tenten's curled body into his he buried his face into her shoulder smothered in her hair. He could hear her giggle and she yawned and pulled away just a bit from him to stretch.

"You brushed your teeth again early this morning… That's so stupid.." Kiba mumbled into her skin. Tenten huffed.

"Smells better than dog breath." She retorted, voice sultry still as she woke.

"You'd be surprised how good Akamaru's breath is naturally in the morning." He teased, kissing her pale shoulder. A hard jab from her elbow to his stomach stole his breath and made him laugh all at the same time.

"It's our day off. What do you want to do?" He wheezed, still laughing. She whined and stretched more, wriggling around in the covers.

"It's too early to make plans. Shut up."

Kiba grinned and wrapped his fingers around her sides, playing with her skin and making little patterns as they crept closer to her belly button.

"I have gift shopping to do…" She mumbled, mind working at his suggestion.

Kiba paid no mind to her musings and instead began placing warm slow kisses on her shoulder and neck, fingers moving farther down her soft stomach and abdomen to play with the hem of those adorable bright red panties.

"Both mom and dad need something.." she breathed.

He snapped the elastic of her panties and fingered beneath them with one hand as the other moved under her other shoulder to cradle her body and reach for her bare torso.

"I should buy for Lee too…" A little moan slipped out when his fingers skimmed over the top of her nether lips and his other hand found her bared breast, kneading it with knowing fingers. Tenten's skin tingled with warmth and pleasure as his finger dipped into her body and played with that delightful button at the cusp of her pussy.

"And N-Nej – Ah!" She gave a soft cry when he rubbed with more pressure, humming and dissolving as he played with her body.

"That's not the name I want to hear you cry out when you're in my bed, pet." He growled to her, his other hand squeezing her breast gently. Every reaction he got from her made it harder to keep on as he was, and she was soon so damp she couldn't keep her plans straight and kept her hips grinding into his quick hand. As he kept his fingers busy he was growing harder with every moan he pulled from her, and his control shattered when she whispered his name. He pulled his fingers and hands away and pushed her flat on her back to kneel between her legs. Tenten was spread out before him in a festive display of white skin, rosy capped nipples, bright red panties, brown eyes half lidded with lust and brown hair spread across the pillow. The only thing that could've made it more perfect would've been a bow.

"You're gorgeous, pet." He breathed reverently. Her cheeks flushed darker and a smile spread over her face turning her lust to a look full of feeling. He began to kiss up the inside of her thighs, fingers brushing along the outside until they reached the waistband of her panties and pulling them down. Pausing momentarily to slip them down one leg he tossed them to the floor and knelt back down to give her beautiful wet body a passionate kiss, sucking eagerly at her lips and clit once his tongue found it.

Tenten arched and cried out, grabbing a handful of his hair desperately as her legs wrapped around his torso. She called his name and bucked when he gave a particularly hard tug on her and whimpered when he moved away. Kiba's eyes were feral – at this point he _needed_ to be inside of her, _needed_ to hear the wet sounds of her body with every thrust, _needed_ to feel the warmth spill around him in tight waves. He growled as he crawled over her body, not even needing to find her juicy opening with a guiding hand, and with one sharp thrust he was engulfed in her hot, wet grip. His mouth fell open and he loosed a throaty moan of satiation.

"God you feel so good…" He moaned. Tenten bucked, her breathing heavy.

"Don't stop now! Please!" She whispered, her body clenching over him just to prove how much she wanted him to move against her. Kiba's eyes scrunched shut as another bolt of pleasure shot through his body and didn't waste any time. Both their hips met in a hard rhythm that had both of them panting. Tenten's fingers raked down Kiba's back leaving bright red scratch marks that neither of them cared about as she found purchase on his ass, squeezing and pulling him into her begging for him to go faster and for him never to stop in an unceasing mantra. Kiba complied eagerly, driving himself into her with abandon and loving every second of it. Each squeeze, each wave of contracting muscle trying to keep him from leaving her was pulling Kiba closer to the edge of insanity and they both reveled in it, washed in it, and from the way Tenten planted her legs on either side of his hips and arched, he could tell she was ready to explode.

"That's it pet, come on.." He moaned, grinding for a second before pulling out again and thrusting back inside her quickly. She let out a strangled cry and the fingers on his ass came to the pillow, clawing desperately at the sheets and mattress.

"YES!" She screamed as he pounded into her faster than ever, hand holding her hips steady as she arched into him. Her body was so tight he almost couldn't pull himself out as she came over him, squeezing him mercilessly to join him in bliss. He could only manage a few more thrusts to keep her screaming before he finally gave a shout and plunged inside one last time as far as he could go. He came in a wash, entire body tight and singing with pleasure that eventually melted him into a pile of tired bones over Tenten who had wrapped her legs around him to keep him inside. Her hands still squeezed his shoulders and her heart was still beating fast even as her breathing slowed.

Kiba couldn't move for a long few minutes as they both basked in the afterglow of morning sex, closing his eyes and savoring the fluttering of her vaginal muscles over his cock. After a bit more time, he gently slid out of her. She gave a long, low moan, as he moved and it only served to make his member twitch in excitement. Kiba kissed her forehead and pulled her into his body to snuggle with her as they both enjoyed the morning. He could see snow outside the window and felt content spread from his chest to his toes as Tenten rested her forehead on his chest, legs entwined with his. He closed his eyes and felt himself drifting off…

"You need to buy for Shino and Hinata too…" She said sleepily. "And I need to get all my wrapping done."

Kiba snorted, and opened one eye to give her a raised eyebrow.

"Shut up. It's too early to make plans. Besides, it's the day after Thanksgiving." He sighed. There was no way he was brave enough to go outside this morning even if it was just a small village like Konoha. Ninja had ways to transport themselves in eery places, and the battles to be had over stupid shit between kunoichi was not something he was ready to commit to with Tenten. Her small hand snaked over his hip, down his hipbone, and grasped his semi-hard shafted, gently stroking him and giving him a squeeze. Kiba hissed, and pushed forward into her hand.

It was only black friday shopping, right? Worth it for a hand job, right? Kiba's care was drained with another loving stroke of his still sensitive shaft and he knew that no matter what he had decided in his mind, she'd most likely win out in the end with that perfect hand of hers.


	4. The Special Edition 16th Anniversary Kit

**The Special Edition 16th Anniversary Vanity Makeup Kit**

**Characters**: Ino & Sakura

Synapses: _The race is on for the Perfect Christmas Gift, and Sakura and Ino know what the goal is... but which one of them will ultimately come out on top with the gift they want?!_

* * *

A black unicorn with a beautiful white horn whinnied and pranced around in a dark storm, stamping at the ground and pawing before charging at her, horn lowered and poised to kill…

Sakura woke with a groan as her alarm buzzed angrily at her. Another whine sounded behind her and the arm that had been comfortably wrapped around her hip snatched at their sheets and tugged them up over his head. Sakura was fine with Kakashi being a cover hog, as she now simply needed to find the strength to crawl out of her bed now and get ready for the rush. The numbers on the clock blinked that it was 2 AM, and the buzzing of her alarm didn't desist until Sakura slapped it from her side of the bed. Taking a deep breath and glancing over at the pillowy lump that was Kakashi with furrowed brows. The ninny growled and spun over, taking the sheets with him. Cold air hit Sakura's thighs and pushed her out of bed with another grouchy huff.

She sauntered over to the bathroom and started the hot water for the shower, then leaned over the sink of her bathroom to view her tired face in the mirror, checking the dark circles and any zits that might have formed while she wasn't on zit defense. After around five minutes steam began to billow in the bathroom and she was satisfied with her face. Hopping into the shower, she numbly washed her hair, still blinking at the early hour, and managed to go through the motions of washing her body. She rinsed, stepped out of the shower and dried off with a single blue towel. Her hair was quickly pulled into short pony, and once the mirror cleared, her makeup went on flawlessly as she began to wake.

"I need coffee…" She mumbled to herself as she carefully lined her eyes. After all the primping was done, she hung the towel back on the towel rack and walked out of the bathroom to get dressed. A quick rifle through her drawers brought her a pair of bikini cut panties, faded bra, black tank top, warm weather black pants and socks tucked just so, and a pair of boots laced up to her calves. She sat carefully on the bed to keep Kakashi from getting any crankier as she put her boots on, then reached for the thermal sweater on her vanity and pulled it over her head. Sakura looked herself over once more before reaching into the top drawer of her delicates and pulling out fingerless gloves and a white headband to keep stray hairs out of her face. One more look over and she nodded her head, eyes no longer tired but fierce for the upcoming hunt.

Today was the day she was going to fight the crowds and get Ino the 16th Anniversary Collector's Edition Vanity Makeup Set. It included the finest primers, powders, and shadows, as well as a shade of red lipstick that was no longer on the market that Ino adored. Ino didn't know she was braving the raging storm of women and shopping that she hated so much, but by the Gods Sakura would get it for the pig and she would be a blubbering mess of a best friend before Sakura. Rushing out of the bedroom, through the living room and then grabbing her bag off the wall in the dining room and fastened it over one shoulder, resting comfortably on her hip.

"Let's do this."

* * *

Ino gave a scream when her alarm went off and tumbled out of bed, pulling the sheets with her. Swearing and flustering as she tried to dig herself out of her sheets she finally made it back to the surface and had to hit the damn thing three times before it would stop its infernal noise. She pulled herself off the ground and marched over to turn on her light. After a check in her mirror, she quickly tried to brush out her mess of long blonde hair, having taken a shower the night before. If it was not dealt with right away, it would curl up and frizz, which was exactly the nightmare she was left pawing through with her brush.

After another five minutes of harsh brushing and de-tangler, she finally managed to get her hair somewhat compliant and into a thick, manageable bun. She doused it in hairspray before headed for her bathroom and applying deodorant, perfume, and starting on her makeup. A quick base and powder, liner, then mascara and she was finished. She strode back to her drawers and pulled out thermal underpants and a long-sleeved shirt, pulled on some black yoga pants with JUICY written over the back, and pulled a vest over the long-sleeved shirt unzipping it a bit so her breasts had some room to breathe. She grabbed the matching blue gloves before winding a blue scarf around her neck and pulling a black headband on to keep her lone bang out of her face.

She spun once and her lips pursed. The yoga pants seemed slutty… Just to make sure she hadn't missed a good pair that didn't have wording, she dug through her drawers and found nothing else that seemed to speak. Ino frowned. Seemed she was stuck with that pair. She shrugged to herself and went to the bathroom to brush her teeth quickly, then headed for the living room, grabbing her purse and putting it over her shoulder.

The 16th Anniversary Collector's Edition Vanity Makeup Set wasn't going to buy itself and walk its way into Sakura's door! Primers, powders, shadows and a limited edition shade of Fire Me Up Baby red lipstick made this a must have for her. Ino flipped through her wallet, stopping at a photo of herself and Sakura, sitting together and enjoying the summer with smiles that went from ear to ear. She thumbed it fondly, good memories flashing through her mind.

They'd experimented with makeup and loved all of Vanity's makeup, and Fire Me Up Baby was the first lipstick they'd shared when they were girls messing with makeup. Ino huffed. It was why this was such a perilous mission. Doors opened in one hour, and at 0400 hours, she was going to grab the gift that was going to turn that bilboard into a squealing geek!

"Lets go!"

* * *

Sakura was stuck in a ridiculous line at White Tea and Things trying to order her usual black tea, milk and sugar. Women were lined up to the door, and she was stuck keeping it open for more crazy women trying to get in the door. The cold wind was breezing through the door, and Sakura's boots weren't doing a whole hell of a lot to keep her toes from freezing. As the line crawled she kept repeating her order in her head, already having the change to pay for her tea and her thermos ready. Minutes crawled by, but Sakura got to the front line and faced the smiling yet somehow eerily psychotic looking barista, who's blonde pigtails were unusually perfect for the chaotic nature of the store.

"What can we get for you?" She asked, cheer and a dash of sarcasm ringing in her voice.

"Black tea, splash of whole milk and three sugars in a thermos." Sakura answered in one swift shot. The girl snatched the thermos out of Sakura's hand and called the drink before turning back to Sakura with her creepy grin.

"That'll be two hundred six yen." The Barista said quickly, snatching the money from Sakura. Sakura then went to the waiting corner where several other women stood. Just watching the traffic put an anxious edge on Sakura – Several more women ahead of hear that had prepped and gotten to the coffee shop in time before she had. If there were several here, there must be triple the number waiting for the Vanity shop to open, Sakura projected. Though she'd just been sent to the corner, she found her foot tapping uncontrollably as she tried to pass the time.

Ino had finally gotten to her coffee shop and knocked on the back door. It was bustling and busy from the front, but Sae was one of the baristas there and had bid her to come to the back door early in the morning.

* * *

"_Trust me, Ino, it'll be a fuckin' nightmare trying to get your coffee in the front. Just come in the back, and make yours, then get out of there before those crazy bitches catch you behind the counter making your own coffee. Setsun is cool with it, just for you."_ Sae'd said.

The moment she opened the back door, the chaos hit her full force. Two of the four baristas were scrambling in the stock room filling their arms with all manner of teas, syrups and coffee beans to keep up with the demand of clientele. She peeked around the corner and saw Sae standing at the front counter and called to her. The blond jerked her head around, saw Ino, and nodded, waving for her to use the back bar where one black haired young man was desperately trying to pour coffee and put his new stock just so. She patted the boy's shoulder, who blinked at her, then sighed in resignation.

"Hurry up."

Ino poured a shot from the loud machine, grabbed some of the already steamed milk and poured it into a paper cup. She'd forgotten to grab her geared thermos for bumpy traveling, so jumping the rooftops wasn't an option – but as soon as she topped her coffee off with vanilla and chocolate, stirred it together and took a sip, she didn't give a damn.

"Good luck – you need it more than I do." She teased as the other boy quickly maneuvered back to the bar, starting over on his drinks.

Ino opened the back door and as soon as she stepped out a girl rushed in with an apron in hand, slamming into her and dumping her coffee all over the floor.

"DAMMIT!" She shrieked. "ARE YOU SERIOUS? WATCH WHERE YOU'RE GOING!"

The girl was small and mouse with short brown hair and looked like she was about to cry, too stunned to move.

"For fuck's sake, get in there and help your coworkers, don't just stand here!" Ino raged, snatching paper towels from the nearest rack to mop the mess up with. She turned to the kid working the back bar, who had taken a moment to give the brown haired girl a hug and comforting word before grabbing a large paper cup and making exactly what Ino had made herself. He finished the drink in half the time Ino did and placed it on the desk for her to take with her before she left once she was finished cleaning up the spill.

* * *

Sakura managed to claw her way out of the tea shop, and thanks to her awesome field thermos, she bounded along the rooftops toward Vanity. The coffee shope had taken so long that she had a mere fifteen minutes to get there before the store opened, and waiting in a line for the Special Edition makeup kit terrified her. The quick route took her another five and she landed just a block from the storefront with another ten minutes to spare. At first she felt good – then the line outside of Vanity made her fumble her mug. She stared, stupefied, at the throng of women brewing outside the popular cosmetics shop and wanted to cry. It was still early and she had not woken early enough to beat the masses. Her inner self chose that moment to step in and knock her on her ass, reminding her the she would get that damn special edition kit if it KILLED her!

Murmurs went up among the ladies, and she could see the lines starting to waver as the shop keeper and their employees began to set things out, turn on lights and cash registers, and began the usual routine of opening. Some of the employees took a moment to stare out at the throng of crazy women waiting to get into the shop. Her heart began to pound as she mentally prepped herself, trying to keep deadly calm as all the other women seemed to do the same. Each woman seemed to mentally steel herself for the pounding they were about to take.

A hush fell over the group as they heard locks beginnning to turn and clatter open. In one shining moment everything was silent - and then the door opened smoothely. All the shit hit the fan, hell broke loose, and the end of the world was coming as a crowd of screaming women surged foward through the door and took Sakura with it. It took a minute or so, but she clawed her way again through the door, noticing the number of shinobi women using their techniques and skill to get into the door, leaping silently above and over the women that were just there for the shits and giggles.

Sakura darted here and there, managing to keep from knocking anyone over and sliding over other ladies' bodies to get to her goal which had been centered in the middle of the store in a gleaming and beautiful display that was now being torn to pieces as grabby hands went for the Anniversary Kit. They kept disappearing everytime she ducked down to avoid being smacked by a waving hand or jumping women and she desperately tried to lunge as she made the last ten feet through the crowd as two were left on the golden table. She struggled between a skinny woman compacted by a larger woman and managed to pop herself out between them, her hand grabbing the last silver box as another hand grabbed for it.

She glared at the offending hand and followed its arm back to the owner...

And found herself looking at Ino, who was glaring right back at her.

She blinked at Ino, who returned her stare of shock and narrowed her eyes.

"Let it go, Pig."

"Go to hell, Bilboard Baggins."

Both girls' hands tightened on their respective corners and both of them tugged gently on the other's side until it became a tug of war.

"Let it go you fat lazy pig! I've been up since two this morning just for this stupid thing and you are NOT going to take away my prize!" Sakura shouted.

"Shut up, Sakura, I've been through just as much shit to get here and by the gods you'll give me what I came here to buy!" Ino shot back.

"I should let you have it just to cover up your fugly eyeliner!" Sakura sniped.

"But then I'd feel bad because then there would be nothing to keep you from needing a paper bag!" Ino quipped, hand still on the box.

Sweat was beading on Sakura's forehead. Battling Ino in this store would level it, and she knew neither of them were going to give. She looked for other options and just as she spotted one, Ino cocked her fist back and took a hard swing at her, screaming "LET GO!"

Sakura's eyes widened and she took a hard hit right in the jaw, her grip loosening but not letting go. Rolling with the punch she was pushed back into a cushion of other patrons raiding the store. An angry shout went up among the group and Sakura quickly got up from the punch trying not to let herself get dizzy. Another kunoichi pounced on Ino, and grabbed the bottom corner Ino had the top corner of. Ino had her fist ready to fire another one her way, but Sakura managed to let go and let the crowd take her to the mercy she was looking at as the group as a whole pushed her towards the counter. On display, just below another kit, was the Anniversary kit in a gold box. Nobody had noticed the poor box, as it didn't match the silver that had been displayed. She snatched the box up and looked over it carefully, praying her bruised jaw and sacrificed kit was not in vain. She looked back to where the other two kunoichi were fighting and it looked like Ino had pitted herself against a Black Ops agent - Now Ino was just fighting air and the other woman was triumphantly cradling the last 16th Anniversary set.

Sakura smirked, smug and self satisfied with her superiour intellect and shopping skills - this one deserved bragging rights, and when it was presented to Ino with a big red bow, she was going to tell the story of how she got it. Sakura managed to make it to the front counter without any further incident, even with her jaw swelling painfully. Sneaking out with her bag, she bolted back home not wanting to brave any more fights with the crowd (particularly those black friday Black Ops shoppers). When she got home, she stashed her treasure in the closet, disrobed, and fell back into bed where Kakashi was laying half awake, staring at the large black and blue bruise Ino had walloped her for.

"What the..."

"Don't ask Kakashi... Women are fucking insane."


	5. The Toymaker

**The Toymaker**

**Characters: Kakashi**

Synapses: _Kakashi investigates the disappearances of boys in a village in the Rain Country and discovers a grisly truth._

* * *

Kakashi's feet drifted quietly over the snow fall outside a small square home in the Rain Country. The roof was covered with snow, chimney steaming as a fire blazed inside and snow continued to fall around him. It was tucked away in a small forest that nobody would think to look for, off to the side on a beaten path a mile away from a nearby thriving village that was hidden by the winter's touch on the land. Shrouded in winter camouflage Kakashi carefully picked his way through the shrubs and made it a point not to leave any footprints as he staked the home out. Inside where the fire warmed the house was a young woman in a ruddy looking maroon dress and house boots, a black shirt under the dress to keep her warm and her dark hair pulled back.

The woman's eyes were hard, except when she was looking at the young boy inside sitting at an old wooden table. The boy didn't look back at the woman, didn't hardly move at the table as she placed a steaming bowl before him and moved mechanically once she was out of the way to dip his wooden spoon into the broth. It was eerie to watch, the boys lifeless eyes and face as he supped on the soup his mother made for him. The boy didn't match his mother at all – pale blonde hair, empty blue eyes, and a face that looked as though it had never seen the sun. Kakashi unveiled his sharingan eye to take a closer look at the boy sensing that he wasn't seeing everything with his normal eye. His presumption was correct.

Tiny threads of energy were along the boy's hairline and ears, more around his neck and collarbones as though he'd been a cadaver at some point in his young life. It screamed of something unnatural, and his mother being the only other resident of the house as he'd come to discover after a two weeks of surveillance, was the only possible reason for it.

The village he'd come from was indeed successful, and growing. But a rash of disappearances, all young boys, made the townspeople wary of the new coming generation of people. According to the file, twelve young boys all around the ages of six to ten were being abducted. No bodies had been discovered even after a careful combing and volunteer group of townspeople had covered a two mile radius on horses, no trace of family dispute or encouragement of the home distress where the boys would want to leave or run away. Each family Kakashi had convened with had been genuinely devastated, even the more troubled and poorer homes. Each boy was missed, and each name haunted him. The only real connection between each of the boys was height and age. Hair colour, eye colour, even the skin tone was different on each of the boys. Each one had a unique temperament and personality, each was one of a kind in his own way, and each had vanished without a trace.

Due to the snow, neither he nor Pakun could track by scent and had been mulling around for two weeks looking for a thread that tied it all together. Only one cognate detail remained after so many trails went cold – Etsuko Toy Shop. Each boy had visited the shop at any given time and purchased fine glass marbles that were specialties of the toy shop. Not one of the boys had to pay for a bag of custom glass marbles, which Kakashi found extremely unusual. They'd been given as gifts, the families had been told. Closely inspected, each marble had a very slight charge of chakra that was unfamiliar to him. He'd taken the marbles out of the households, just to be safe, and disposed of them even at the risk of resentment from the family.

Now he was looking into the home of Etsuko the Toymaker, and her supposed son. Queries over town revealed that not one person was close to the weary woman in the home. Most only knew her from the toy shop, and only by word of mouth. Nobody could tell him her background, and even then name Etsuko had been false. There was no history on her, and that is where his suspicion had begun to rise. Now, as he stood outside the window peering in at the mother and son, red flags were waving. The pale blond was the same shade as one of the boys, and the blue eyes were another. Kakashi felt his stomach lurch at the logic his mind was supplying and knew the only possible way to find out the truth would be to closely examine the boy for foreign chakras, and if more than three types existed, he had his killer.

The woman inside the cottage shuffled around the boy, lovingly kissing him on the forehead. Again, the boy didn't react to his mother's affections, but meekly sipped more soup from the wooden bowl and spoon. Kakashi kept to where he was at. As soon as she left the house, he would get in, lock the door behind her, and examine the boy from a blind spot inside. There were only two windows on either side of the house, and only one blind spot behind in the home, which was on the other side of the hearth where she kept poking at the fire.

* * *

Hours later Kakashi was still sitting under the window, listening, waiting, and watching for any sign of her leaving. The boy had moved little, and had only gone from being seated at the table to a chair before the fire. It was still quiet as death inside of the cottage, and there was still no sign that the woman was going to come out for anything as she continued crocheting some kind of scarf at the fire. An aggravated sigh left his lips as he realized he'd most likely be watching the house all night, and he leaned against the walls of the home to soak in whatever warmth it could provide. Keeping his ears open, he closed his eyes and tried to get a moment of sleep as the last glimmer of light vanished over the horizon.

His mind went to being in bed with his fiancé, enjoying a fire in their two bedroom apartment, eating the horrible homemade dinners she kept trying to make to prove she was a decent housewife and nurse, when it all went dark inside his dreams – the apartment was ghostly quiet, even as he called out Sakura's name. Nothing moved. The dripping of the faucet was gone, the creaks in the floorboard where their loveseat sat was gone, and the chipper sounds of a fire were gone. It was cold and desolate.

Small cold hands gently wrapped around the back of Kakashi's neck and he yelled, spinning around, hands flying to grab whatever was clinging there. When nothing met his fingertips, cold sweat began to break out over his forehead. He wasn't wearing his mask or hitae-ate and felt naked without them, completely unprotected to the chill of the room. His breath came out in hurried puffs and suddenly, children had filled the living room in the blink of an eye.

Some were sitting on the sofa and loveseat, others the counter of their kitchen, and another couple standing beside the cold light of the window. One of the boys was missing his eyes and black holes were staring in Kakashi's direction. Two boys were missing their legs, another was missing his arms, one had been severed in half and another had a gaping hole where his mouth and teeth had been. One was even missing the skin from his forehead back, and only the bloody white cap of his skull showed in the light.

Terrified, Kakashi kept still, waiting for something to happen, someone to speak, and one of the boys stood from his seat at the windowsill and was standing in front of him faster than lightning. It was the boy without eyes. He reached out and touched Kakashi's chest where his heart resided, then took Kakashi's hand and placed it over his own chest.

His eyes widened when he realized the boy was trying to convey that he was dead, and that he had no heartbeat. With that realization, each one of the boys looked familiar, and upon closer inspection each boy had a feature he recognized from the missing photos. They were all boys he was investigating.  
"Don't let mama be sad…" The boy before him said softly. He looked around, all of the other boys looking at him. "Don't let our mamas be sad."

Kakashi came back to wakefulness with a gasp of cold air and was face to face as he squatted in the cold snow with the boy from inside the house. The moonlight turned the freshly fallen snow blue, and the boy's skin glowed pale blue. He had Kakashi's hand on his heart, and two large, lifeless blue eyes were staring at his. The boy mouthed something that he couldn't seem to vocalize and Kakashi realized that the boy's mouth was empty – he had no tongue to speak with. It took him a long few minutes of staring before he realized that he could now check the boy without breaking into the house.

He sent a delicate pulse of chakra along the boy's system, as Sakura had taught him to do, and the blast of several different chakras pushing back made his back hit the stone wall of the house. It made him channel a stronger pulse of chakra into the boy standing before him in defense and when the energy hit a vital chakra point, something in the boy's system snapped like a bowstring. The boy literally crumbled before him into a pile of body parts - eyes, legs, hands, arms all coming apart as the strings from whoever was controlling them were cut. Kakashi barely had time to pull his mask down before he vomited in the bushes even as a shriek went up inside the house, signaling that it was the owner of the toyshop who had done such unspeakable things to the boys.

She tore out the door, eyes black in the darkness of night as she looked down at the pile of neatly cut body parts.  
"I spent months perfecting my Ikuyo! He was MINE!" She screamed and shrieked, hands shaking over the pieces of the boy as though not sure what to fix first.

"My little boy… Oh my little boy!" She wailed as she kneeled in the snow. She had picked up one of the boy's hands and was rubbing it against her cheek gently, crowing, "I'll fix you back up, you'll be good as new by tomorrow morning. Good as new."

Kakashi had finally pulled himself together – he jabbed a syringe into the woman's neck as she rocked over the body parts of each of the boys and let the tranquilizer work as she fell onto her side. He walked away from the macabre scene, taking slow deep breaths before pulling his pack down from a nearby tree where he'd stored it and getting another burlap sack out. He took each body part from the pile with care and put it in the sack before tying Etsuko's wrists together with steel rope, not sure the regular stuff would keep her from ripping it apart if she came too. Heaving the murderess over his shoulder and wiping his mouth with his other hand, he pulled his mask back up and tried to ignore the bumping of the burlap sack against the back of his calves as he walked.

Etsuko didn't admit to the murders so much as tell the each of the parents that stood before the holding cell what piece of their boys she'd liked best to put into her little boy. As it stood, Etsuko was being named the Toymaker - her skills at weaving dead bodies together spoke something for her past,but Etsuko didn't give any information on herself or what she really did for a living. She was still a mystery, the owner of a toyshop who'd killed little boys to make the perfect little boy of her own. He'd left the pile of body parts to a nurse at the local hospital to identify what belonged to who, and had only known the blue eyes had belonged to a boy named Keniki. Kakashi left quickly – the holidays were coming up quickly and he wanted to leave this horror behind him and get back to a loving pink-haired kunoichi and her family. He couldn't face the families that would be spending the winter time with one less boy any longer than was necessary.

* * *

The trip that had originally taken him a day and a half he managed in half a day and was back at his apartment's table, savoring his soon to be mother-in-law's food rather than the burnt roast Sakura had attempted earlier that day. The noise seemed to flood around Kakashi, time seemed to fly in his loved ones' abode and before he knew it, he was wrapped around his fiancé holding her tightly as he closed his eyes for the night. The covers were wrapped tightly around them and as a comfortable warmth settled over him, Sakura's cold breath kept washing over his face. He wrinkled his nose and poked the kunoichi playfully.

"Stop breathing on me, dragon breath."

Kakashi received an elbow to the ribs for his poke and a grunt of irritation when it came to him that he was holding her back to his chest. He opened his eyes, and staring back at him was a dark haired boy with no expression on his face, staring at him with empty eye sockets. Cool breath washed over Kakashi's face and his body froze with tension.

"Don't let mama be sad." The boy said, his voice vibrating with otherworldly energy. Kakashi screamed and scrambled out of bed, pushing himself against the farthest wall. The eyeless boy followed.

"Don't let mama be sad." He insisted over Kakashi's screams. "Kakashi, don't let mama be sad!"

"Kakashi!" A voice came urgently. "Godammit wakeup Kakashi!"

A slap rang and Kakashi came to on the floor with his back against the wall, pushing at his fiancé who kneeled beside him with both hands on his face. Her eyes were filled with fear, as his were with confusion.  
"What happened?" He panted, looking for his tormentor in every corner of the room. "Where is he?"

"Where is who, Kakashi? Baby, you're scaring me." Sakura admonished, brows knitted together with worry. "You asked me to quit breathing on you and then just started screaming. What happened to you on that last mission?"

Kakashi shook his head, eyes still wide and body sore from hitting the floor.

"Nothing. It's nothing. I'll be okay." He insisted, blinking. "Let's just go back to bed."

Sakura nodded mutely, still frowning at him as he climbed back into bed and curled up. He could feel Sakura get into bed behind him and wrap her arms around his arm and waist. For the rest of the night, he stared at the other wall and reveled in her warm touch and prayed he would have no more ghosts visit hime.


	6. A Blue Christmas

**Blue Christmas**

**Characters: Ino**

Synapses: _Ino dwells on things not so cheerful this season._

**_Writers Note: This particular piece is a very personal to me, and was written based on everyday experiences. I feel like this everyday, and feel like this needs to be said to help my healing process. Thanks for reading through!_**

**_GS_**

* * *

A cheerful tune whistled in her ear from the digital alarm clock she stuck on her bed. Her nose twitched as she slapped at the flat phone that'd somehow gotten buried under her pillow. Sitting up with a head of tousled blonde hair, she looked at her mirror and swung one foot out to toe the carpet. It was a long contemplative look, one she had given herself often over the last month. Hurt welled up in her chest like a red hot mass of bubbling lava and she swallowed and willed it down before it could cause anymore tears. She stared at a pair of blue eyes, took in the features of a sharp, well crafted nose, and beautifully arched brows and high cheekbones. Her shoulders were striking and solid, and one of her favorite features, her collarbones, bunched beautifully as it went down into the swell of her breasts as her shoulders pushed forward. Even as she stared it was hard to see past the little things.

She knew her arms had a bit of extra fat that shouldn't be there. Her belly did sometimes leave something to be desired, and wasn't always the chiseled beauty she displayed in the summer time. The weight in her thighs bothered her, even if nobody else could see it. All of it added up and left a weight in the pit of her stomach that Ino acknowledged in a mere ten minute stare down of herself every morning.

At one point she'd though about moving the mirror away from her bed so she'd wake up not knowing what she looked like and moving on with her day to the bathroom, but she realized that as soon as she hit the bathroom's harsh revealing light and mirror it would only be worse. Looking at herself in the dawning light was more graceful. Today though, it was hitting her like a bag of stones. Ino knew she was beautiful. But some days, especially in this last month, it was harder to acknowledge it. Ino sighed quietly, pulling a blob of fluffy covers to her chest and hugging them tight before planting both feet on the floor and pointedly looking away from the mirror as she grabbed a towel drying on her coat rack to take a shower.

Her eyes were on the sink's counter top as she went through the motions of removing her panties before hopping into a warming shower, arms crossed over her the bounty of her breasts as let the water soak her hair. Tilting her head back and closing her eyes, she let out another long breath through her nose of contentment, washing her hair with a shampoo she loved the smell and texture of. Each scrub was a ritual, from rinsing her hair, to washing her face as she went through it all mechanically to start her day. Her brain was bouncing with random facts to keep her company in the quiet as she stepped out of the shower and began to pat herself dry before wrapping the towel around her hair and rubbing it dry.

Finished with her shower, she walked naked from the bathroom back into her room and looked towards the drawers, carefully avoiding her reflection as she picked up the usual garb for winter training. Only after she was fully dressed did she look up to style her hair back into a tight pony and dust her face with finishing powder to keep from getting oily as she worked on her ninja techniques. Once finished, she looked over herself once more before nodding slightly and grabbing a thick sweater to keep the cold out.

She met Gai and Lee for her strength training, and used weights as well as kata to keep her muscles tight. Each ached when she used them – she only did a routine weekly day of focused training on her body to keep it limber and strong, opting to instead do yoga and gymnastics to keep herself flexible and ready for use. Once she finished and thanked her teachers for the four hours of extra training, she went to a local dance studio that allowed her the use of the emptied studio on the fourth floor for her stretching and acrobatics training. There she stayed for another two hours perfecting a new trick Ten Ten had taught her.

The time flew by for her, things she normally did on a daily basis seeming lackadaisical in comparison to being on the road. Unfatigued she headed for Konoha General Hospital to visit Sakura and see how her medical training was going. The visit with her best friend was slow, and she was only half there, trying her damndest to listen with interest and only catching the fundamentals of what Sakura was saying before she excused herself and left the hospital to walk around the town.

It was a blur of movement, nothing but humdrum civilian life and little to keep her mind from wandering the dark corridors of her mind which she'd been so desperately trying to avoid up until now. Before she realized what she'd done, her feet had taken her to the Hokage's Headquarters in the middle of the city. Snow had covered the top, and only a cover from the building kept the sidewalk clear.

The hot, bubbling feeling of inadequacy leapt into her chest again as she though mindlessly, 'Shikamaru works here.'

And it was that one thought that brought back the last two years of memories split between little notes and nights of passion that left her heart aching and hurt, mind blazing through her psyche trying to figure out and fix something that was refusing to be fixed. She could see his eyes clenched shut in the back of her mind even as the forefront of her thoughts screamed to get away, hear him whimpering as she pleasured him. She could remember how he kissed her temple, and laid back in her lap while watching meaningless television just to be close to someone as she ran her fingers through his long, dark hair, and the question '_Why?_' just kept popping up in her mind.

Tears welled up before she could stop them, and just when she thought she was going to dissolve into tears, her more rational side took over. '_Stop it. This isn't your fault. You aren't the only one to blame. You made your intentions clear, adjusted to his every need, and still it wasn't enough for him. He should've stopped, and he shouldn't have kept it going if he knew there was never going to be a snowball's chance that it would end well, so stop it._' She though angrily to herself. '_He'll take responsibility for his actions, but until then, stop feeling guilty and inadequate because of his poor taste and tactless view on romance. This is not just your fault, Ino. Stop blaming yourself, stop beating yourself up, because it isn't just your fault. He's obviously moved on with Temari, its time you moved on too._'

The tears stopped and she took a cleansing breath as she looked up at the looming building before shaking herself and turning on her heel to head in the other direction. As soon as she looked up from her shoes, there Shikamaru was, striding toward the building on his own with his hands stuffed into his pockets, eyes cool as he perused her.

"Hey Ino."

The internal war began to rage inside of her, part of her wanting to just to walk away and leave him to himself, and the other part wanting to scream at her former team mate and demand to know why she wasn't good enough for him, what she didn't change for him. Those two words were the most contact she'd gotten from him in a month at best.

Not trusting herself to speak to him, she simply nodded with a tiny, forced smile, and moved past the man before her, walking calmly away from him. No, she'd decided. No more questions, no more hurting. She was going to put it behind her, leave it in the past where it should be, and leave him to wonder. He had no right to her after what he'd put her through, the now obvious reason for their crumbled relationship clear that he'd moved in with Temari even after his denial to her. Her heart pounded in her chest, her eyes burned and she struggled to breath. Three years wasted, hoping that he'd come around to see her like she saw him. It had all been a complete waste, and now someone else was dipping into the benefits of all of her hard work making him a more tender guy. The guilt and shame for being so selfish settled in around her again as she walked on.

The dark was beginning to set in as she reached the outskirts of the village and she moved towards the bar that she was familiar with. Once the doors opened a tumult of noise drowned out all the other voices that reasoned and echoed in her mind and she finally smiled in relief as a drunken Genma and friends hollered her way with a drink overflowing in his hand.

"Get this bitch a Spiked Nog! She fuggin' LOVES dirty nog, don't you sweetheart!" He clamored boisterously with another blonde ninja on his arm that was probably half his age.

"Go home, Genma. I haven't even started and you're already drunk." She shot back with a cheeky grin. Back in her element of loudmouthed idiots, she settled in at a barstool that hovered over the table, feet balanced on the higher pegs as the group of black ops shinobi enjoyed a round on Genma's overcharged tab. Anko slid her whiskied eggnog in her direction.

"Come on, cheer up little girl. Its Christmas time and you know that means Genma always picks up the tab as a present." She teased. Ino laughed and grabbed up the half full eggnog, saluted towards Genma who whistled in appreciation as did the other men of the table, and chugged what was left of it before smashing the empty glass on the floor. The group cheered loud and obnoxiously and Ino continued to drink well into the night, eventually being joined by Sakura, then Kakashi and Tenzo.

Ino would agreed with herself – she was going to be fine so long as she had a loud, caring crowd around her to hide in.


	7. Blue Christmas Part 2 - Happy Holidays

**Happy Holidays**

**Characters: Ino & Chouji**

Synapses: _With Chouji's help, Ino brings back some Christmas spirit._

* * *

"Why are you making me do this…?" Came Chouji's voice, flat and unamused.

"Because you're fat, jolly and love kids. You're perfect for this role, Chou!" Ino shouted back from the dressing room.

"I'm not FAT! I'm big boned." He muttered, _tsk_ing at the troublesome Kunoichi. She'd come to him in a drunken stupor last night to beg a favor… Of course she hadn't gotten off easy. He'd requested a big sloppy wet kiss in return, which she happily obliged. In fact, she'd been so drunk, she'd even given him a glorious lap dance that made his pants twitch in reminiscing, but he blushed and quickly turned his thoughts away from the bumping, grinding Ino on his lap last night. The Ino he appreciated just a bit more, was the one that was in the women's bathroom putting on an elf costume. It had been an edict by Tsunade to bring about holiday cheer, and the drunkard had suggested Chouji be Santa and Ino put on an elf costume while carrying a massive back of treats brought to them by a local bakery.

While it was all a good, heartfelt idea, Chouji didn't like that he was fat enough to complete the suit, nor did he like the stuffy, scratchy beard that'd been provided with it. As he moved around to face the mirror of the men's bathroom at the bakery, he couldn't help but admit that whether or not he liked it, he did make the perfect Santa. This role was usually taken on by his father, but this year Father had mentioned Son to Ino, and things had gone as such. Tsunade moved it down a generation and he couldn't be more opposed to it.

The scent of sweet pastries floated through the air and brought Chouji back from his pouting into the front of the bakery where the baker, Shiosei, was finishing up his latest batch of doughnut holes and glazing them carefully. The bearded man was leaning over the counter with a fierce look of concentration on his face as he glazed the doughnuts and put them on a super cool tray. Chouji admired the man's dedication, and couldn't help the grin that spread across his face.

"You wouldn't mind making me a batch once we're finished here, right Shiosei?" He inquired, grabbing up the bag that was on the counter to prepare filling it with wrapped pastries. Shiosei didn't look up from his work but nodded with a tight grin.

"Alright! I'm ready to go!" Ino announced, walking out of the bathroom. Chouji turned and couldn't keep his mouth from dropping open. Whoever she'd rented the outfit from had meant for it to be a naughty elf costume – her legs were wrapped in the most delicious green tights he'd ever seen and she was wearing a pair of red and green platform heels to match them. A short straight-cut green skirt was snug over her hips and went only to mid thigh, and the button-up tunic that went with it was smoothed into the skirt along with it. Ino herself had pulled her hair back into a pony, had a pointed hat on her head of red and green felt with a poinsettia tucked into it, and had the customary pointed elf ears. The last detail was a pair of white gloves on her dainty hands which were currently resting on her hips.

"You look…"

Ino nodded, a grin on her naturally pink lips.

"Just so…" Chouji sputtered, trying to find the right words and not knowing if sexy, delectable, and hot were on the list, but had kept trying to get _something_ out that Ino sighed and stomped forward to snatch the bag from his hand, carefully piling the goodies into the bag.

"Would it kill you to ever give me a compliment, Cho? I mean really." She snapped with an irritated sigh. Chouji flushed, both with irritation and embarrassment. Her outfits usually inspired such speechless bouts ever since puberty had hit him, and he had yet to really get out a clever line while she was in attendance to hear it. He and Shikamaru had recently come to blows over his shitty treatment of her – but they would continue to be friends. Even Shika knew of his crush on Ino, and had tried to keep a low profile when they were dating for his benefit, but all to no avail. At this point, Chouji was just happy to stick around her. Since the split, she hadn't done so well, and he didn't see her very much at all unless she was training with Lee and Gai.

Ino leaned over the counter of the bakery, skirt stretching over her butt in the most head turning of ways, and Chouji fought not to groan.

"Are we almost ready to head out, Shio-sama?" She asked sweetly, one leg popping up to bump the back of her stiletto on her hind end.

"Just let this last bit cool and you're right as rain." The older man replied with a cheeky grin. "Come back when you're finished, I'll have a gift for the two of you as well!"

Ino pouted.

"Shio, don't make me eat more of your sweets! I'm having trouble as it is keeping lunch and breakfast off!" she teased.

"You don't eat enough as it is, Skinny." Chouji huffed finally, tearing his gaze away from her bottom and back to the back of her head just in time for her to swing her head around.  
"Says the man that's already overweight." She snarked back. Chouji didn't respond, rather raised an eyebrow at her. She laughed once more and gave him a cheeky smirk. "Better be careful or Santa won't bring me any presents, will you Santa?"

Chouji swallowed, mouth a bit drier than with her innuendo.

"Let's get moving – we'll be late if we don't hurry up." He answered instead. Ino nodded in agreement, jumping with excitement as she took her own bag and kept filling them with pastries. Chouji went to the corner of the bakery where a bag had already been filled the night before and waited patiently for the kunoichi to finish, then followed her out the door. Immediately she was shouting "Merry Christmas!" and waving at children in her short skirt and stilettos, going so far as to walk up to the kids and talk to them, smiling from ear to ear and pointing back at him to whisper little secrets and wonders into their ears. It wasn't long before they had walked enough, they'd crowded a group of small children laughing and shouting their gift requests to Chouji who took it all in stride, laughing in a booming voice that sounded more like his father's than his.

One small girl with a purple coat and her face hidden behind a matching purple scarf tugged on his jacket and reached for him with both arms. He smiled down at her and picked her up after shouldering the bag of pastries, giving her a gentle snuggle of a hug. A wave of arms came up after this and he laughed and grabbed one child after another until he had three in his arms and he was spinning them merrily about.

They gave the children one pastry a piece, telling each one to be good little girls and boys and to behave or no gifts would be had. The air, though chilly, was filled with the sound of kids laughing and playing, and both Ino and Chouji enjoyed the moment together. It didn't take long for the children to eat them out of pastries though, and within two hours, they were waving goodbyes to the children and walking with a few smaller children until they reached the bakery doors again. Shiosei opened for them and closed the doors behind them as they continued to wave and smile at the children until Shiosei closed the blinds on the shop door.

Ino let out a long sigh, sitting on the table and pulling one stiletto off by the heel, rubbing her foot as Chouji sat beside her and removed his beard and hat. Without warning, he took up her other foot in his hand and removed the shoe for her. Before she could protest, strong fingers worked into the sole of her feet and Ino couldn't protest the warmth and strength of his hands as he rubbed them gently.

"I haven't seen you in a while. How've you been, Ino." He asked quietly, eyes on her feet as he worked. Ino gazed contemplatively at him before she answered.

"Okay. I've had better years; this really hasn't been the best." She admitted quietly, dropping the stiletto on the floor as she leaned back on her arms on the table. "Nothing really has gone my way for Christmas this year. I couldn't even get that goddamn set Sakura mentioned for Christmas."

She huffed and blew a strand of hair out of her face.

"How've you been, Cho? No missions lately, and with reassignments I haven't really seen you much either."

"It's been wickedly busy for me – Just a bunch of piddly missions that nobody else really wants to handle in other small villages around Konoha. With all the snow this year, there have been a lot of work requests on hard to work on houses that nobody wants to do. Easy junk for us." He answered, continuing to rub the tender muscles just above her toes.

"They hire ninja out for that shit?" Ino asked, surprise shading her voice. Chouji nodded wordlessly as he finished up with left foot and moved to take her right foot. Ino let out a soft moan as he started on her other foot.

"God you're good at that." She simpered. "Magic fingers…"

Chouji chuckled and gave a particularly sensitive part of her foot a deep rub that made her squirm and sigh. It was quiet again between the two of them for a long moment. Only Shiosei was busying himself behind the counter, making something that smelled like stew and fresh bread rolls.

"How are you really doing, Ino…?" He asked, the question leading to painful subjects. He could feel her stiffen under his hands at the question, and it was met with a long silence. He glanced up at her, eyes filled with real concern. Her eyes were on her lap. It was the first time he'd really seen her have difficulty answering a question since Asuma had passed away. It wasn't like her to be so quiet. Chouji put a hand on her knee, and she flinched.

"Sorry, I'm just.." It took another moment of silence. "Nobody has really asked. I haven't really told anyone."

He could see her eyes water, and she shifted her head away from him.

"Its been hard. I see him all the time, think about him every night and what I did wrong. It just is so hard to figure it out, what I did, and try to get myself to remember that it really wasn't my fault."

It was an honest answer, one that hurt to hear the way her voice strained.

"Hope you two are hungry! Dinner is served!" He called, two big bowls of stew in his hands and one basket of steaming bread balanced on his forecep. Chouji's stomach rumbled, pleased with the smell of stew and the wafting of fresh bread. Ino hopped off the table and sat across from Chouji, thanking Shio, who gave a small bow and a big thank you for their work. The meal was eaten in silence between the two of them, and Chouji could see her retract the tears after a long struggle, keeping them from spilling. Once finished, they both went to the bathroom and changed, and gave Shio their respective hugs leaving with leftovers and more pastries than Ino cared to keep. Ino accepted Chouji's offer to walk her home, and they walked together, again in silence.

Before they reached her appartment, he finally said something.

"It wasn't anything you did, Ino. Shikamaru was pretty quiet these last couple of months. I mean, he's always been a pretty soft-spoken guy, but it was a bit more..." Chouji struggled with the wording." Intense, I guess, than usual. I should've known this was coming. There could've been more I coulda done to prevent it, but really Ino, its his choices that bring it back to this. He could've told you at any time he was losing interest. He didn't have to draw it out the way he did."

Ino still said nothing, her face shrouded in the dark. They climbed the stairs to her appartment and stopped before her door, both standing quietly.

"Well -"

"Would you like to come inside for tea..?" She asked softly, finally meeting Chouji's eyes. "I just... I don't want to be alone right now."

Chouji tried to keep the shock on his face to a minimum, but nodded sagely before she could redact the invitation. She unlocked the door and went into the waiting darkness, Chouji following her into the darkness.

_**To be Continued...**_


	8. Blue Christmas Part 3 - Bright Lights

**Blue Christmas: Bright Lights**

**Characters: Ino & Chouji**

Synapses: _Chouji decides what to give Ino for Christmas._

* * *

The appartment Chouji walked into with Ino was cold and small, a tiny kitchen with a sink and stovetop oven. She flipped the light on and went to a cabinet above the sink to start their tea, getting a thick ceramic pot and two cups from another cupboard. There was a dishrack for drying dishes to the side of the sink, a small fridge, and cupboards above it and the sink as well as below. It lead into a small living room with a small two seat couch and a recliner, neither of which matched on the dingy tan carpet. A door was to the left of the living room, where he assumed Ino's room was.

"Go grab a seat, I'll be in when the water is on. Black okay with you?" She murmured, not turning from her work at the counter.

"Sure." Chouji answered, trying to sound a bit more chipper despite the ever darkening aura around her. Bringing Shikamaru up may have been a mistake, he thought to himself as he headed into the still dark living room to sit on the recliner. He leaned forward, elbows on his knees as his mind raced, trying to grip onto some common interest to take her mind off its darker paths when she walked in and turned a lamp on that was on a coffee table between the recliner and the loveseat.

"You know, Chouji, you can take off your shoes and get comfortable. The heat is on, it just takes a bit to warm up in here."

Chouji nodded, but didn't make any more to take his shoes off. He wasn't sure how long he was welcome. Ino was resting comfortably in black cotton pants and big black sweater as she removed her hair tie and let her hair down for the evening.

"I stopped staying over at his place and got one of my own. Told him I didn't want to be a burden." She said quietly. Her blue eyes surveyed the room and she shrugged. "No the best, but at least now there is no obligation to be a shop keep at the flower place." She made a sticky face that made him chuckle.

"What, flowers not your thing?" He inquired, teasing. She gave him a rueful smile.

"I love flowers – I just don't like getting up at four in the morning to sort them out, go to market in another town, and then open shop from nine to five. Especially when I have other duties that take precedence." She responded. "I'd rather be well rested if I'm called on guard duty or something like that. I have more time to dedicate to my practice now anyways."

"Good point. I've noticed you've taken on some training with Gai and Lee. How's that going?" He asked, relieved for another exit from Shikamaru. She made another sour face and this time shuddered.

"Oh god. It's like learning to be a pole dancer – only with green spandex. So mortifying." She answered, laughing as the image of Gai riding a silver slut pole cropped up. "I will say, they know how to strength train though. My body hurts like a mother after working with them. They put me in four different sets of weights during the training, and start different every time. Sometimes it'll start with the heaviest and work to the lightest and then do it the other way the next week I go back for it."

Chouji nodded.

"Any other new training you've taken up?"

She shrugged.

"I sometimes ask Ten Ten for tips. She's usually pretty good about it. Sakura's more in the medical field, and I hate dealing with sick people. Blood…" She shuddered. "So what kind of work do you get for houses?"

"Most of it is the fancy multiple story houses. Stuff that most workers won't do in the winter, like fixing roofs and such. We had a few different clients ask for recon on their spouses, but most of it is just stuff that requires dangerous repair. I think the most dangerous mission I've been on this winter was the one where we had to intercept notes from a wife and her secret consort to the leader of a smaller village with military power. We damn near started a ware between he and his wife because half the village was faithful to the leader, and the other half the wife." He laughed.

A high pitched whistling noise interrupted their conversation, signalling the teapot was done. Ino was up and getting the tea as he sat back in the recliner. She poured two cups, asking if he took anything in it, which he requested honey. She brought it to him and sat it on the coffee table beside him.

"Thanks."

Ino simply nodded and sipped on her own tea, curling up on the couch. Both enjoyed a moment of silence, and even in the silence, he could see the wheels of her mind turning. Her eyes blinked tiredly.

"Have you been up to anything else recently?" He asked weakly. She shook her head and they both fell into silence again.

It was a tense ten minutes before she spoke again.

"I'm sorry Chouji. You don't have to stay - Just its been a long time since we talked and you -"

"Listen, Ino, I know what you're going through. I want you to know I'm on your side, alright?" He interrupted. "I know you're upset. You aren't alone. And you don't have to go through this alone."

Ino was staring at the tea in her lap, tears finally starting to fall down her cheeks. It fell limply from her hand and she began to cry, knees curled up and hugged tight to her chest. He rose and sat beside her as she sobbed into her knees.

"I'm so sorry, Cho I'm so sorry! Its just been so much harder than I thought it would be. I'm so weak, so ashamed for being so weak and pathetic.." Her crying choked her voice. "I keep thinking about it, all the things we did together and the things we're never going to do again and this part of me just tightens and I can't breath. I'm so angry and so frustrated. Godammit, why is he doing this to me?!"

Tears kept pouring down her face and Chouji felt his heart tear for her. He grabbed her by the shoulders and forced her to look at him.

"You need to stop. You are beautiful, Ino, and Shikamaru fucked up. Don't let him stop you from being happy, because you deserve more than anyone!" He told her. "Look at me, Ino."

Her eyes flickered to him and finally stopped, still sniffling.

"You're beautiful. There is no woman prettier than you are, and you know that. I know this hurts, and I know that you're going to go through this painful hell, but I promise - You're going to make it through this and be a better person for it."

She nodded with every other word, and he could tell she was still struggling with the tears. He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her into his chest.

"Its going to be okay.. Just cry, let out your pain, and I promise I'll be here."

Ino sobbed again, pushing at him at first, and then clutching him like the last lifeline she had left. He held her for a long time, letting her cry until she was hiccupping in his lap and sniffing, still trying to get herself in check and stop the crying. Murmuring soft assurances and rocking her he stroked her hair softly and before long she began to fall asleep.

"Thank you so much..." She whispered, eyes getting heavy. "I couldn't talk to anyone. Thank you for letting me.."

When her breathing was slow and even, he picked her up carefully, letting her head rest on his shoulder. He tugged the covers of her bed off and placed her on the sheets, arranging her hair just so before covering her up. Chouji stood quietly over her after she was tucked in. Whatever Shikamaru had done, he'd broken Ino into little pieces and it seemed she was having trouble picking those pieces back up to put them back together. He knew that she was usually a strong person, and her breakdown wasn't normal for her; after what he'd witnessed tonight, he decided he was going to try and help in whatever way he could. Ino fussed in her sleep and he leaned down and kissed her forehead. It was something he'd wanted to do for a long time. Tucking her hair behind her ear, he walked out of the room quietly to let her rest.

* * *

Ino rose slowly to an unusual smell in her home: Cooking bacon. It wasn't like she was opposed to it - but she wanted to know who the fuck was in her house. As she got out of bed she noticed her clothes were still the same that she was wearing yesterday. Her eyes ached, head was spinning, and her body ached from whatever she'd done. Wondering back to what she'd done, she remembered suddenly that she'd invited Chouji back for tea, and wound up sobbing into his shoulder. She couldn't really remember what she'd done after, but she prayed it wasn't anything she'd regretted.

Slipping back onto the carpet, she crept noiselessly into the living room and peered around the corner into her kitchen a kunai in her hand to face whoever had broken in.

"Jig is up, Ino. I heard you noisey ass as soon as you got up. Come get some breakfast, you need some meat on your bones."

Ino frowned at the sound of Chouji's voice. She shuffled into the kitchen and scowled at him.

"What the hell are you doing in my kitchen, Chouji?"

He was quiet for several moments as he scraped eggs between two plate, heaping one with eggs and giving a healthy but modest portion onto another.

"You had a rough night and you didn't sleep well. Figured I'd stick around until you got to sleep and get you some coffee in the morning." He finally answered as he turned to a skillet with strips of pork cooking. A blush colored her face and she leaned against the beam of the wall that seperated the kitchen from the living room.

"Thank you, Chouji."

He merely glanced up from his work and nodded. Once the bacon was finished he passed her plate to her with a fork and they both sat in her living room. They ate in silence at first.. But then Ino began chewing on bacon and she moaned.

"Oh sweet gods this is good." Her mouthed puckered as she enjoyed the delectable piece of pork and it brought a grin to Chouji's face. "If you keep doing this I'll be fatter than you by the end of the week."  
Chouji had already finished his breakfast and was enjoying her delighted noises.

"Shut up Ino. You're gorgeous as you are. Now, Tsunade wants us to go ahead and d another round of Santa today, and has excused us from duty for another day. Get a shower and we'll get back to Shio's bakery."

Ino stuck her tongue out at him and a warm smile took over her features as she finished her eggs on her way to put hers and Chouji's plate in the kitchen.

"Fine with me."

Chouji watched her disappear back into her room and close the door behind her. He smiled in spite of himself, happy that she was and sighed. She'd heal, and he would help her every step of the way. It would be his gift to her.


End file.
